1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system that produces an electrode for use in a battery.
2. Discussion of Background
Batteries, such as lithium-ion secondary batteries, are widely used as electric power supplies for driving or activating electric vehicles, electronic appliances, and the like. A system that produces an electrode for use in such a battery (an electrode production apparatus or an electrode production method) is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-67507 (JP 2010-67507 A). An electrode production system described in this publication is generally configured to include a kneading device (kneading process) that kneads an electrode material and a solvent, a coating device (coating process) that coats a metal foil with the kneaded electrode material containing the solvent, a drying device (drying process) that dries the solvent-containing electrode material with which the metal foil is coated, and a pressing device (pressing process) that presses the dried electrode material. In the electrode production system configured in this manner, the metal foil in the form of a roll is unwound from the roll and conveyed in a horizontal direction, and then the coating process is performed by the coating device, the drying process is performed by the drying device and the pressing process is performed by the pressing device.
In general, a drying device in a conventional electrode production system has a production line that is as long as several ten meters because the drying device performs drying by using hot air and therefore the drying process is a time-consuming process. Therefore, the electrode production system is divided into devices, that is, the electrode production system is configured to include a kneading device, a coating and drying device, and a pressing device. Since an electrode material for a positive electrode and an electrode material for a negative electrode are required for producing a battery, a positive-electrode production system and a negative-electrode production system are separately provided. Furthermore, the electrode production system needs to be installed in a clean and dry environment in order to prevent impurities, such as dust, dirt, and moisture, from being mixed into the electrode material during a production process. Hence, the conventional electrode production system is large in size and high in cost.